The parent company of the Boston Red Sox is close to buying English soccer club Liverpool.

Three Liverpool board members announced Wednesday that they had agreed to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures, one of two active bidders. The board members overruled the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., who believed the bids were too small.

Hicks and Gillett tried Tuesday to remove the board members to prevent a sale. The dispute appears to be headed to court.

"I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive," Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said in a statement.

The English Premier League must approve the sale.

An Asian investor was vying for the club along with NESV, Sky Sports reported.

Hicks, who sold the Texas Rangers in August, and Gillett, who sold the Montreal Canadiens last year, are facing an Oct. 15 deadline to repay debt of about $450 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland stemming from their 2007 takeover of the club. RBS has said it will charge a 60-million pound penalty if the deadline is missed.

NESV and the other bidder were only willing to pay around 300 million pounds ($477 million), slightly more than the 218.9 million pounds (then $431 million) the pair paid for the club in 2007, according to reports. But the club's debt has grown to around 285 million pounds ($453 million).

Hicks has said he wants to sell the club for 600 million pounds ($950 million), a high valuation that has caused several investors to end their interest in recent months. In addition to buying the club, the next owner will be expected to fund construction of a new stadium to replace Anfield.

Terms of NESV's purchase agreement were not released.

"By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team," Broughton said. "I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale."

Hicks and Gillett on Tuesday tried to maintain control of the club -- and block a sale -- by attempting to remove club managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre. Purslow and replace them with Hicks's son, Mack Hicks, and Lori Kay McCutcheon, a vice president at Hicks Holdings. Ayre and Purslow, along with Broughton, wanted to pursue sale negotiations.

Hicks agreed to sell the Rangers after defaulting on more than $500 million in loans. A group led by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg and Rangers president Nolan Ryan won the club in a bankruptcy auction in August. Hicks also is selling his stake in the NHL’s Dallas Stars.